Find Your Inner Commando at Machine Guns Vegas

If that sounds like a good time, you may want to set your sights on Las Vegas’ newest attraction, Machine Guns Vegas (MGV), which opened its doors Monday. Part gun range, part ultra-lounge, MGV invites visitors to grab the automatic weapon of their choice — Uzis, AK-47s and more — and get in touch with their inner gangster or SEAL Team Six commando.

“You’d be amazed at the number of people who come to Vegas and want to shoot a machine gun,” said co-owner Genghis Cohen. “It’s an experience you can’t have in a lot of places in the world.”

Gun ranges, of course, are nothing new but MGV puts a decidedly Sin City spin on the concept, a reflection, in part, of Cohen’s background in the city’s nightlife industry. He originally came to Las Vegas from his native New Zealand to open Tabu, the über-hip lounge in the MGM Grand.

MGV takes a similarly stylish approach, albeit an alcohol-free one, complete with leather furniture, hardwood floors and a bevy of “Gun Girls” led by model and U.S. Air Force veteran Jeannie Duffy.

Duffy and her fellow shoot hosts will be on hand to provide training — they’re all NRA-certified instructors — and help guests choose from a variety of shooting packages, such as:

Mob ($100): think shotguns and “Tommy guns”
SEAL Team VI ($130–$160): Includes M-60 machine guns and other weapons used in the covert operation that killed Osama bin Laden

The Compound ($699): MGV’s VIP experience, which includes the use of 16 different firearms, including handguns and semi- and full-automatic weapons; use of a private lounge and firing lanes, and complimentary refreshments

Such offerings will put MGV in more-or-less direct competition with The Gun Store, a Las Vegas institution that has been inviting visitors to fire off a few rounds for more than 20 years.

Alas, for those seeking that sexy Vegas vibe, there are no heat-packing “Gun Girls” at The Gun Store. There are, however, two ordained ministers on staff because, yes, they do perform shotgun weddings complete with flowers, cake and weapon rentals.